Donation handover in the RFDS Base in Kalgoorlie 2014 · Donation handover in the RFDS Base in Kalgoorlie 2014 Page 1 Australia, December 2014 Donation handover in the RFDS Base in

Donation handover in the RFDS Base in Kalgoorlie 2014 Page 1

Australia, December 2014

Donation handover in the RFDS Base in Kalgoorlie 2014

T h e l o n g j o u r n e y o f a d o n a t i o n

(Report by Dr Hans-Ullrich Henschel OAM) ~ "Why do you support the Royal Flying

Doctor Service of Australia? You are coming from so far away, from Germany!” I

heard these words many times from surprised Australians in the course of our many

donation handovers at the bases of the RFDS. And from their view it is an

understandable question why we do what we do!

It is for sure not a common thing to do, to donate for the Flying Doctors in Australia,

who work at “the other end of the world”, in the lonely, endless and far off Outback.

But to save lives, this support is an especially honourable gesture. “Sometimes you

must do good things” [Sometimes you have to do something good], is what was

written a few years ago in the daily newspaper of Dubbo, a town northwest of

Sydney, where one of the RFDS Bases is located. Those words slipped out of my

mouth as an answer to that question and consequently they were the unmissable

headline of the article in the newspaper.

Dubbo´s newspaper “Weekend Liberal“ No. 10 from the 5

th and 6

th of March in 2011

It would probably be usual to just transfer the money which was collected by our

support group, the "German RFDS Support Group ´flydoc australia´" through many

remarkable donations to Australia.

However there are so many feelings coming with this, which is why the donations are

repeatedly handed over personally by support group members. Throughout the many

years of our support group’s existence, there were 64 occasions of such a donation

handover.

This is why in the end of 2014, another donation made its long journey to Australia,

this time to the far off gold-digger town Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, among

others. It takes 7 hours from the cold and rainy Frankfurt am Main to Dubai, and

another 13 hours to Adelaide, the capitol city of South Australia.


We were welcomed by a summerly and warm weather, so we made a stopover.

Then we continued our journey in a kind of spectacular way. We got on board of the

‘Indian Pacific Express’, coming from Sydney, which took us on a 27 hour long journey

to Kalgoorlie. Only on board of this train, we realized that this is a special journey,

since there was a particular occasion for this train ride: “The Indian Pacific Christmas

Train Celebrations“, which were accompanied by Adam Thomson and his Australian

Band ´Chocolate Starfish´.

The Indian Pacific – Great Southern Rail Nullabor Plain - Australia

We travelled 2.198 kilometres through the never-ending desert of Nullarbor Plain,

where, with 478 kilometres, the longest straight going track of the world is located in

the middle of the Outback. Adam Thomson gave an exceptional concert in the

‘Outback-Explorer’-saloon car. Not only in the evening, but also during the several

train stops in the Outback, the artist gave concerts for those people who came to the

tracks a long way in their jeeps and trucks. They were able to enjoy the ultimate

Australian Christmas Carol. Of course there were presents, not only for the children.

Kate Hannon who is the Media & Communications Manager of the RFDS Central

Operation was also on the train. Other travellers on the train were asked to support

the RFDS with donations. There are many promotion campaigns like this in Australia.

On the way through Nullabor Plain, which seems to reach far beyond the horizon, we

realize how unique, lonely and endless the wide Outback is. But still, people live and

work here. And of course there are many tourists on their way, including some

German travellers. In case one gets problems with their health, one cannot just go

around the corner to the next physician.

The Flying Doctor is always ready to help in such situations, to save lives, like a coat of

safety. And this is what we want to support with our donations to the RFDS from our

support group. This is what every German who travels to this great and spectacular


continent of Australia should be aware of. How necessary and honourable it is to

make a donation to the RFDS in this context through our support group.

There are people and institutions in Germany who help to save lives. They support

this humanitarian matter with donations to our support group. The full amount of

every single donation is received by the RFDS, as our support group has had zero

costs since its foundation almost 11 years ago.

And with these life-saving donations we were on our way to the Flying Doctors on

Kalgoorlie. The RFDS Base of Kalgoorlie was established in 1937.

The Base of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Kalgoorlie is located at the airport

Kalgoorlie Boulder, which is both, a base for all the work, as well as a visitor centre.

Every year the visitor centre gives an insight for about 6.500 visitors regarding the

work on the golden fields and especially an exceptional insight to the work of one of

the truly legendary Australian organizations: the RFDS.

RFDS Base Kalgoorlie – Entrance Memorial for the victims on the 30

th of April in 1981

On Monday morning, the 8th

of December in 2014, we had an appointment at the

RFDS Base. Base Administrator Misty McGinley welcomed us happily and told us

about the Base.

The donation handover worth 10.000 Australian Dollar happened in the Hangar. We

met further colleagues in front of the Pilatus PC12:

Flight Nurse Lynne Jansen, who I know from my last visit in 2006, as well as the Senior

Base Pilot Captain Lindsay Fosbery, who has been working for the RFDS for more than

20 years.


Donation handover in the RFDS Base in Kalgoorlie on the 8

th of December in 2014

Base Administrator Misty McGinley said, regarding our support group name “flydoc

australia“, that in the near future the airplanes will not be coded with letters

anymore, but with the word ‘flydoc‘ which will be followed by a combination of

numbers. What a coincidence that we have had the word ‘flydoc’ as part of our

support group name for 11 years already.

Guests were entering the Visitor Centre who wanted to see a film about the Flying

Doctor Service and to make a tour around the Base.

The souvenirs in the Doc Shop are also very popular.

Visitor Centre – Video Demonstration Visitor Centre – Flying Doctor Shop


The goodbyes were very friendly. We were told to express their thanks to all support

group members and the wonderful donators for this generous donation. With this

donation we helped to better equip the airplanes. Kalgoorlie just received a new

Pilatus PC12. Just like the airplanes of the RFDS Central Operations, the airplanes of

the Western Operations are now planned to get painted red, so they are recognizable

as a red cross in the sky.

Of course the ancient gold-digger town Kalgoorlie itself made us curious.

We were impressed by the main road with its numerous magnificent buildings from

the times of the gold rush. We visited some museums, like the ‘WA Museum of

Kalgoorlie-Boulder´ and the ´Hannans North Tourist Mine´. The view from the

spectacular Super Pit impressed us just as the view from the Mt. Charlotte Lookout

above Kalgoorlie.

Paddy Hannan Statue Kalgoorlie Town Hall Statue of St.Barbara

However a special highlight was the „2014 St. Barbara´s Festival“ with a parade

through Hannan Street. Schools, societies and companies presented themselves at

the parade. The parade ended with an old fire truck, having Father Christmas on top

who handed out sweets, which was followed by a giant 250 ton Cat 793C haul truck

from the goldmine, which had a white angel standing on top (maybe meant to be

Jesus Christ or St. Barbara?).

Giant haul truck from the Goldmine Super Pit Santa Claus is comin’ to town


Kalgoorlie and the long journey of our donation did not only pay off for us. Our

support group made a good contribution to help the Flying Doctor so they can save

lives and those people who live in the wide and lonely Outback and get problems

with their health.

„ K e e p t h e F l y i n g D o c t o r f l y i n g “

Donation Receipt from Kalgoorlie

There are many places in Australia where they collect donations for the Flying Doctor,

like the train station of the Indian Pacific in Adelaide.


Letter from Grahame Marshall, Chief Executive Officer, RFDS Western Operations


@mail from Cathy Parker, Fundraising Officer, RFDS Kalgoorlie Base

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